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Monthly Archives: January 2013

Garrett McNamara rides the big one in Nazare, Portugal. Photo by Tó Mané

On Monday 28 January 2013, Hawaiian big wave surfer Garret McNamara was towed into what many people believe to be a 90-100ft wave off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal, the same place McNamara set his 2011 Guinness World Record for riding a 78ft wave.

Apart from the sheer courage, skill and even luck required to surf a wave of that magnitude, the location is particularly unique too, from a geological perspective that is. McNamara himself explains, “There is an underwater canyon 1,000ft deep that runs from the ocean right up to the cliffs. It’s like a funnel. At its ocean end it’s three miles wide but narrows as it gets closer to the shore and when there is a big swell it acts like an amplifier.” McNamara also reportedly remarked, “The waves break into cliffs 300ft in height. You can’t contemplate coming off because it would kill you.”

Looking at the picture, there’s no denying that the wave is massive and could very well be in the region of 90-100ft and hats off to McNamara and his team for being there and taking on the swell, but I cant help but wonder, is this really the biggest wave ever surfed? It quite possibly is, but how big is it really? In my experience, surfers have always had differing opinions as to how big a wave might be. One man’s 2ft is 4ft for the next and as the size increases, so too does the exaggeration. Either way, it will be interesting to see what the ‘official’ height is and how it was determined. In my humble opinion, this wave is no less than 70ft in height and I wont be surprised if its 100ft.

What do you think? Do you think this is the biggest wave ever surfed? And more importantly, do you think that the 100ft surfing benchmark has been achieved here?